Never seen this before ...

The colorful Indian blue peacock (pavo cristatus) is known for the male's impressive tail of many brilliant colors. Peacock refers to the male, while the females are called peahens. The "peafowl" is generally used to cover birds of both sexes. Peafowl originated in and around India and Ceylon but when the British Empire conquered India, they spread peafowl all over Europe and America. Suddenly, white peafowl appeared and are bred for that color in captivity.

Misconception

White peacocks are not albinos. Albino animals and birds have a complete lack of color and red or pink eyes. White peafowl have blue eyes. The white color appears in other domestically bred peafowl but in different quantities. Chicks are born yellow and become white as they mature, according to the Peafowl Varieties Database. Indian peafowl of all colors, including white, have pink skin.

Variations

A wide variety of color patterns have appeared in peafowl bred in captivity. The include the white; the pied white, which is a combination of white and the usual Indian blue colors; the blackshoulder pied, where the coloration is normal except for white under parts, wings and a spot under the chin and the blackshoulder peahen, which is white sprinkled with black spots, according to the Peafowl Varieties Database.


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Speculation

According to United Peafowl Association Knowledge Base, the first color variation was the blackshoulder, which appeared in 1830. When the white first appeared is unknown. White, pied and blackshoulder color patterns of Indian blues are not often found in the wild. Any patches of white would make the bird more visible to predators. The theory is that in the safety of being in captivity, their recessive coloration genes have emerged. This has also happened in pet birds such as the zebra finch and other animals like the gerbil and the Syrian hamster.

Temperament

Unlike gerbils, hamsters or even zebra finches, white peafowl act just as unpredictably as usual colored peafowl. They are not usually tame birds, although exceptional individuals handled with care all of their lives can occur. They will try to escape from pens, peck at or kick anyone that tries to touch them. Male peacocks of any color pattern have an extremely loud braying call that can be heard for miles. Peafowl of any color can fly.

Breeding

When white peacocks are bred to white peahens, all of their chicks will be white. White peafowl also contain the genes for blackshoulder and pied color patterns. If mated to different colored birds the result will be a wide variety of colors in the chicks. Peacocks breed with a harem of up to five peahens.



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i love peacocks!!xx

Beautiful - having peacock feathers in your house is considered unlucky x

yeah i heard that .. very regal beautiful birds though .x

hugh hefner has a few of these on his play boy mansion....

I dont no nothing about the playboy mansion Tayer it dont interest me lol .x

iv watched the documentary...very lucky man...

trust tayer to say that! haha xx

Hope Pammie hasn't seen this! haha. Don't think she's a big fan of peacocks after the one at the hotel!

Nope - she wanted to strangle it !!

It did keep her up all night lol .x

We just had Melody to do that! Shall put her with the peacock next time!

poor Melody!

Yeah Fiona you were up till 4 ish wasn't you .. didn't stop you eyeing up the waiter though ... lol x

Haha, I'd forgotten all about him! Haha. I'm so fickle! Haha. Aww, nuthin' like a bit of eye candy in the mornin'! Haha.

lol ...

I like a bit more meat on my men lol x

Nice eye candy as well x

Tis a sad lack of eye candy in the world. T'would have been a shame not to have admired him! sometimes you just have to take what you can get...well I do, anyhow! Haha.I can't help thinking this is the one thread I haven't really hijacked cos it still fits! haha

Still time yet - funny it involves the word cock in it, albeit a Peacock!

Haha, I meant that the peacock is a male who's prostrating how he looks to females! Haha. But yeah, most of them probably were that too! I seem to have a knack for liking that kind of male, sadly! Haha.

We need to find you a nice man Fiona .x

Emo might get some peace then!

Lol ...

Haha, emo might get jealous! I'm very fickle with men though. But you'll all be disgusted to know I've decided I do like andy caroll now I've seen slightly more of him. Or Helen, Pam and Nikki will be anyway, hehe.

About right there Fiona!